A Better East Texas - The national debt needs attention

A Better East Texas - The national debt needs attention
Published: Nov. 9, 2023 at 2:16 PM CST

EAST TEXAS (KLTV/KTRE) - If you own a business and your expenses are larger than your income, you risk going out of business. It happens every day.

If your household spends more than your income, you risk defaulting on your obligations and going bankrupt. Again, it happens.

But if you are the United State government, you can spend beyond your means and there is little immediate impact.

Politicians have been deferring accountable fiscal practices for years and the U.S. continues to rack up a massive debt. Now, it is difficult to try to forecast expenses in a world with unpredictable weather events, humanitarian needs and wars like Ukraine or Israeli.

These events can’t be ignored, but neither can the need for practical spending be ignored.

Recently, Congress debated the need to support Israel with additional military resources, which were needed but the proposed legislation also called for a reduction in planned spending domestically to offset the expense going to Israel.

This was met with a load of pushback by the White House.

Sadly, thanks to politics it is a non-start to require some accountability between expenses and revenue.

Our Congressman, Nathanial Moran has co-sponsored a bill that would require a federal balanced budget. We need it but historically, these efforts have failed.

As a country we are weaker because of our inability and lack of will to be responsible fiscal stewards.

We are at a tipping point where our debt will swallow us as a country.

Hopefully this legislation will gain traction and congress will gain a backbone and that will make for a Better East Texas.